A SANITIZER COMPOSITION

Abstract

The invention relates to a sanitizer composition for topical use, i.e. for application onto the human skin, especially on hands for instantaneous disinfection of the body part while imparting long lasting immunity benefit. The sanitizer composition comprising high amount of alcohol and vitamin B3 compound or a derivative thereof is seen to be hazy and this problem is solved by inclusion of specific type non-ionic surfactant.

Claims

1. A sanitizer composition comprising (i) 60 to 89 wt % of at least one C2 to C3 alcohol; (ii) 0.1 to 10 wt % of a Vitamin B3 compound or derivatives thereof selected from niacinamide, picolinamide, isonicotinamide, cyclo-propyl niacinamide, cyclo-pentyl niacinamide or combinations thereof; and (iii) 0.1 to 10 wt % of a non-ionic surfactant having an HLB value of at least 13 and having the general formula
R P.sub.r(EO).sub.mOH Where R is an alkyl or alkylene group of 8 to 20 carbon atoms; P is a phenolic group with r having a value of 0 or 1; and (EO) is an ethoxylate group with m having a value from 8 to 100.

2. The composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the non-ionic surfactant is selected from a fatty alcohol ethoxylate or an alkyl phenol ethoxylate.

3. The composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein when a fatty alcohol ethoxylate is included, it has an HLB value of at least 15.

4. The composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein the non-ionic surfactant is selected from Laureth-23, polyoxyethylene (20) oleyl ether or a C8 phenol ethoxylate with an average of 9.5 ethoxylate groups.

5. The composition as claimed in claim 1, comprising 0.1 to 5% of the non-ionic surfactant.

6. The composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein said C2 to C3 alcohol is ethanol, isopropanol, n-propanol or mixtures thereof.

7. The composition as claimed in claim 1, wherein said derivative of vitamin B3 compound is niacinamide.

8. The composition as claimed in claim 1, comprising 0.1 to 5% by weight of the Vitamin B3 compound or derivative thereof.

9. The composition as claimed in claim 1, comprising 1 to 50 wt %.

10. A method of sanitizing a topical surface of a human body, comprising the step of applying said composition as claimed in claim 1.

11. (canceled)

12. The composition as claimed in claim 6, wherein the C2 to C3 alcohol is ethanol.

13. The composition as claimed in claim 9, comprising 10 to 40 wt % water.

14. The method of claim 10, further comprising applying the composition to the hands.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] The features and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from a reading of the following detailed description and the appended claims. For the avoidance of doubt, any feature of one aspect of the present invention may be utilized in any other aspect of the invention. The word comprising is intended to mean including but not necessarily consisting of or composed of. In other words, the listed steps or options need not be exhaustive. It is noted that the examples, embodiment and figures given in the description below are intended to clarify the invention and are not intended to limit the invention to those examples per se.

[0022] Unless otherwise specified, numerical ranges expressed in the format from x to y are understood to include x and y. In specifying any range of values or amounts, any particular upper value or amount can be associated with any particular lower value or amount. Except in the examples and comparative experiments, or where otherwise explicitly indicated, all numbers are to be understood as modified by the word about. All percentages and ratios contained herein are calculated by weight unless otherwise indicated. As used herein, the indefinite article a or an and its corresponding definite article the means at least one, or one or more, unless specified otherwise. The various features of the present invention referred to in individual sections above apply, as appropriate, to other sections mutatis mutandis. Consequently features specified in one section may be combined with features specified in other sections as appropriate. Any section headings are added for convenience only, and are not intended to limit the disclosure in any way. The examples are intended to illustrate the invention and are not intended to limit the invention to those examples per se.

[0023] A first aspect of the invention relates to a sanitizer composition comprising (i) 60 to 89 wt % of at least one C2 to C3 alcohol; (ii) 0.1 to 10 wt % of a Vitamin B3 compound or derivatives thereof; and (iii) 0.1 to 10 wt % of a non-ionic surfactant having an HLB value of at least 13 and having the general formula

R P.sub.r(EO).sub.m OH

[0024] Where R is an alkyl or alkylene group of 8 to 20 carbon atoms;

[0025] P is a phenolic group with r having a value of 0 or 1;

[0026] And (EO) is an ethoxylate group with m having a value from 8 to 100.

[0027] By the term Sanitizer composition as used herein refers to a composition that is capable of killing bacteria or of inhibiting their growth.

[0028] The term vitamin B3 compound as used herein refers to vitamin B3, i.e. niacin which has the structure as given below:

##STR00001##

[0029] The derivatives of vitamin B3 that may be included in the composition of the invention include. niacinamide (also known as nicotinic amide or nicotinamide), picolinamide, isonicotinamide, cyclo-propyl niacinamide, cyclo-pentyl niacinamide or combinations thereof. It is especially preferred that the derivative of vitamin B3 compound for inclusion in the composition of the invention is niacinamide. Niacinamide has the structure as given below:

##STR00002##

[0030] The sanitizer composition according to the invention is preferably a leave-on composition. The composition is preferably transparent.

[0031] The composition according to the invention is preferably a liquid or a thixotropic gel at 20 C. The composition according to the invention is preferably monophasic.

[0032] The composition comprises 60 to 89 wt %, preferably 60 to 80 wt %, further more preferably 60 to 75 wt % of one or more of a 02 or 03 alcohol. Suitable alcohols are ethanol, propanol, isopropyl alcohol and combinations thereof. Ethanol is the most preferred alcohol. The composition preferably comprises a combination of ethanol and isopropanol. When ethanol is present, it is preferably included in 60 to 80 wt % of the composition. When isopropanol is present, it is preferably included in 1 to 10 wt %, preferably 1 to 5 wt % of the composition.

[0033] In a more preferred embodiment the composition preferably comprises 0.1 to 5 wt %, more preferably 0.5 to 5 wt %, further more preferably 1 to 5 wt %, even further more preferably 2 to 4 wt % of the vitamin B3 compound or derivative thereof.

[0034] It has been observed that when the composition comprises at least 60 wt % alcohol and a vitamin B3 compound or derivative thereof is added to it, the composition suffers from becoming hazy. This problem is not very significant as the concentration of alcohol is reduced below 60 wt % and is not observed at all when it is reduced to as much as 30 wt %. Further, this problem is more significant as the concentration of vitamin B3 compound or derivative thereof is increased and is highly apparent when it is increased to more than 1 wt % of the composition. The present inventors have solved this problem by including a non-ionic surfactant of a specific class.

[0035] The non-ionic surfactant to be included has the formula:

R P.sub.r(EO).sub.m OH

[0036] Where R is a alkyl or alkylene group of 8 to 20 carbon atoms;

[0037] P is a phenolic group with r having a value of 0 or 1;

[0038] And (EO) is an ethoxylate group with m having a value from 8 to 100.

[0039] Preferred non-ionic surfactant is selected from a fatty alcohol ethoxylate or an alkyl phenol ethoxylate.

[0040] Ethoxylates of fatty alcohol (usually available under the Brij class) have the structure:

##STR00003##

[0041] where R is a group consisting of carbon chain of 8 to 20; and R1 is alkyl or H. Suitable fatty alcohol ethoxylates for inclusion in the composition of the invention have a value of m from 20 to 100.

[0042] In the case of fatty alcohol ethoxylates, r has a value of zero i.e there is no phenolic group. When a fatty alcohol ethoxylate is included in the composition of the invention, it has an HLB value of at least 15.

[0043] HLB is calculated using the Griffin method wherein HLB=20Mh/M wherein Mh is the molecular mass of the hydrophilic portion of the molecule and M is the molecular mass of the whole molecule, giving a result on an arbitrary scale of 0 to 20. Typical values for various surfactants are given below: [0044] A value <10: Lipid soluble (water insoluble) [0045] A value >10: Water soluble [0046] A value from 4 to 8 indicates an anti-foaming agent [0047] A value from 7 to 11 indicates a W/O (water in oil) emulsifier [0048] A value from 12 to 16 indicates oil in water emulsion [0049] A value from 11 to 14 indicates a wetting agent [0050] A value from 12 to 15 is typical of detergents [0051] A value of 16 to 20 indicates a solubiliser or hydrotrope.

[0052] Suitable examples of commercially available non-ionic surfactants for use in the composition of the invention are Brij 35 (also known as Laureth-23 or HO(C.sub.2H.sub.4O).sub.23C.sub.12H.sub.25 or polyoxyethylene lauryl ether (a C12EO23 compound) with HLB value of 16.9), Brij 700 (also known as steareth-100 or polyoxyethylene (100) stearyl ether (C18EO100) with HLB value of 18.8), or Brij 99/Brij 98 (polyoxyethylene (20) oleyl ether (unsaturated C18EO20) with HLB value of 15.3).

[0053] When an alkyl phenol ethoxylate is the non-ionic surfactant used, the compound comprises a phenolic group and so r has a value of 1. When an alkyl phenol ethoxylate is included in the composition of the invention, m preferably has a value from 8 to 60. The compounds in this class generally are sold under the tradename of Triton. Suitable examples of these are sold under the brand names of Triton X100 (C8PhEO9.5 with HLB value of 13.4), Triton X165 (C8PhEO16 with HLB value of 15.5), Triton X305 (C8PhEO30 with HLB value of 17.3), Triton X405 (C8PhEO35 with HLB value of 17.6), or Triton X705 (C8PhEO55 with HLB value of 18.4). An especially useful compound of this class for inclusion in the composition of the invention is Triton X100. The term Ph in the above chemical formulae relates to a phenolic group.

[0054] Thus, most suitable non-ionic surfactants for inclusion in the present invention are Brij 35, Brij 98 or Triton X100 which correspond to the chemical names Laureth-23, polyoxyethylene (20) oleyl ether and a C8 phenol ethoxylate with average 9.5 ethoxylate groups, respectively. The non-ionic surfactant is included in 0.1 to 10%, preferably 0.1 to 5%, more preferably 1 to 5%, by weight of the composition.

[0055] The antimicrobial composition preferably comprises 1 to 50 wt % of water, more preferably 10 to 40 wt % of water, most preferably 20 to 40 wt. % of water.

[0056] The composition preferably comprises 0.01 to 1 wt % of a thickening agent, more preferably 0.05 to 0.8 wt % of a thickening agent, most preferably 0.05 to 0.5 wt % of a thickening agent.

[0057] The thickening agent in the composition according to the invention is preferably selected from homopolymers, copolymers and combinations thereof, wherein said homopolymers and copolymers comprise monomers selected from acrylic acid, acrylates, compounds comprising an acrylate group and combinations thereof. The most preferred thickening agent for use in the invention are those of the Carbomer class of compounds.

[0058] In a preferred embodiment the composition according to the invention comprises 0 to 15 wt. % of optional ingredients such as chelating agents, colorants, perfumes, skin conditioning agents, vitamins other than vitamin B3, and combinations thereof.

[0059] The composition preferably comprises skin conditioning agents and these skin conditioning agents are preferably selected from silicones, siloxanes and combinations thereof.

[0060] The composition preferably comprises vitamins other than vitamin B3 and these vitamins are preferably selected from vitamin A, vitamin E or combinations thereof. Even more preferably the composition comprises vitamin E acetate.

[0061] The method of the invention comprises sanitizing a topical surface of a human body, preferably the hands, comprising the step of applying a composition of the first aspect on to the desired surface. The method also ensures long lasting hygiene benefit by way of ensuring prolonged immunity benefit, sometimes for as long as ten hours.

[0062] The invention also relates to use of a composition of the first aspect for disinfecting a topical surface of the human body.

[0063] The method and use hereinabove are preferably for non-therapeutic or cosmetic application.

[0064] The invention will now be further described with reference to the non-limiting examples.

EXAMPLES

Examples A-E, 1: Effect of Inclusion of Non-Ionics and Amount of Alcohol in the Composition, on the Haziness

[0065] Preparation of Sanitizer Compositions

[0066] Three compositions as shown in Table-1 were prepared.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Example A (wt. %) B (wt. %) 1 (wt. %) Ethanol 62 62 62 Niacinamide 3 3 Brij-35 2 Water Up to 100% Up to 100% Up to 100%

[0067] The grey scale value of the above samples were measured using the following procedure:

[0068] A drop of each sample was spread on a cover slip. They were then incubated at 24 C. for 24 to 48 hours to monitor the white layer formation. The sanitizer without niacinamide (Example A) has not shown any white layer while sanitizer with 3% niacinamide (Example B) showed a uniform white layer. Further, on addition of Brij-35 (2%) breaking of white layer was observed. Then the images of the coverslip were taken and their grey scale values were measured using Image J software. The higher the grey scale value, the more hazy the product appears.

[0069] The grey scale value and the standard deviation based on three measurements is give below in Table-2

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Example A (wt. %) B (wt. %) 1 (wt. %) Grey scale value 140 235 135 Standard deviation 4.0 9.5 8.5

[0070] The data in Table-2 above indicates that a hand sanitizer composition comprising niacinamide (with alcohol content above 60%, Example B) appears much hazier than one without niacinamide (Example A). The transparency is restored when a non-ionic surfactant meeting the claimed properties is included (Example 1).

[0071] Compositions with alcohol content well below 60% (at 30 wt %) were prepared as shown in Table 3 below. The grey scale values of those compositions are also given in the same table.

TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Example C (wt. %) D (wt. %) E (wt. %) Ethanol 30 30 30 Niacinamide 3 3 Brij-35 2 Water Up to 100% Up to 100% Up to 100% Grey scale value 135 138 136 Standard deviation 8.9 11.2 4.0

[0072] The data in Table 3 above indicates that the problem of haziness is not apparent when alcohol is present in an amount much below the claimed range.

Examples F-J, 2-4: Effect of Type of Non-Ionic Surfactant and Effect of HLB of the Non-Ionic Surfactant in the Composition on the Haziness

[0073] The compositions as shown in Table 4 below were prepared and their grey scale value was measured, and the average of three measurements is shown in the table

TABLE-US-00004 TABLE 4 Example F G H I 2 3 4 J (wt. %) (wt. %) (wt. %) (wt. %) (wt. %) (wt. %) (wt. %) (wt %) Ethanol 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 62 Niacinamide 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 Non-ionic Brij 97 Tween 80 Brij 35 Brij 98 Triton Span 80 (A) (B) X100 (C) Non-ionic 2 2 2 2 2 2 (wt %) HLB 12.4 15.0 16.9 15.3 13.4 .sup.4.3 Water Up to Up to Up to Up to Up to Up to Up to Up to 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% Grey scale 117 220 200 202 118 115 115 Phase value separation (A) - Brij 97 is a fatty alcohol ethoxylate (unsaturated C18EO10) non-ionic surfactant (B) - Tween 80 is a polyoxyethylene sorbitan alkyl ester (C18:1 EO20) non -ionic surfactant (C) - Span 80 is also a polyoxyethylene sorbitan alkyl ester (C18:1 EO1) non -ionic surfactant

[0074] The data in Table-4 above indicates that the composition of the invention (Examples 2-4) exhibit reduced haziness as non-ionic surfactants as per the invention are included. When non-ionic surfactant as per the invention (but having an HLB value outside the claimed range (Example H) or when non-ionic surfactants not claimed (Examples I, J) are included, the compositions continue to exhibit high haziness.